A woman was left ‘terrified’ she would lose the complete use of her jaw due to devastating damage caused by a single-punch attack more than 10 years ago, as part of a terrifying ordeal in which part of her face ‘fell off’.
Jacqui Glynn was attacked by a stranger while waiting to pick up a friend at the Bayview Hotel in Redcliffe, a coastal suburb north of Brisbane, in December 2012.
Ms Glynn said she faced several difficulties when she applied for financial help from Victim Assist Queensland for her injuries. She said police refused to give her information about her attacker that she needed to complete her application for help.
“I was neglected by the police for over a year,” Glynn told the Daily Mail Australia.
The ensuing delay in treatment caused Ms Glynn’s initial injuries – three loose teeth and a fractured cheekbone – to worsen dramatically.
“In 2014 I had my entire top row of teeth removed,” Glynn said.
‘In the end, I had four layers of bone grafting and 36-inch screws put into my jaw; I spent seven hours on the operating table.’
Unfortunately, complications with the procedure, combined with endless bureaucracy, left Ms Glynn with a shattered jaw and no one to take responsibility.
Jacqui Glynn (pictured) was the victim of a single-punch attack in 2012 and is still dealing with dental complications more than ten years later.
After the attack, Ms Glynn had to have her entire top row of teeth removed and implants fitted, but the screws (pictured) holding them to her jaw came loose just a year later.
Faced with the choice of having to pay thousands of dollars for private dental work or risk having her jaw worn down while waiting for treatment through the public system, Ms Glynn turned to GoFundMe.
“Right now I’m really scared of not having a jaw,” she said.
‘I asked Victim Assist for help but they are only responsible for the three damaged teeth.
‘I tried to talk to the dentist who did the original work, but he told me they wouldn’t do anything to help me because I haven’t kept up with maintenance appointments.
“They charged me around $500 for a cleaning every few months… I couldn’t afford the cost.”
Ms Glynn explained she had to have a series of plates fitted to her upper jaw after the horrific attack, but just a year after they were inserted, two screws holding them in place fell out.
Worse yet, the braces she used to hold her false teeth in place have come loose and she has had to use denture glue to try to keep her mouth intact.
The friction from the metal severely damaged Ms Glynn’s upper jaw and damaged several of her lower teeth.
“It’s been a nightmare. I’m in pain all the time and bleeding everywhere. I have very little jaw left,” he said.
Ms Glynn said her dental problems have also cost her several relationships because she feels too anxious to leave her house.
Ms Glynn (pictured before the attack) says she is in constant pain but unable to repair her implants due to a cycle of irresponsibility.
In addition to the physical injuries Ms Glynn (pictured without her implants) has suffered, she has lost several relationships due to social anxiety following the attack.
“I’m not a vain person, but I’ve always had a nice smile. Now I don’t go out, I have no social life because I’m embarrassed,” she said.
‘People want to go out to eat, but I have to go to the bathroom in the middle of dinner to pull my teeth out, apply more glue (because it doesn’t adhere well to metal plates) and put them back in.
‘When I have my teeth in my face looks swollen, when they are out I look haggard and older.
“This just makes me feel very self-conscious.”
Despite the toll the attack has taken on Ms Glynn’s life, she said she does not hold “a lot of resentment” towards the woman who hit her.
‘I was waiting to pick up a friend at the Bayview Hotel and was chatting to a guy outside.
“Suddenly I was punched in the side. It turned out that the guy was this girl’s boyfriend.
‘She was a big girl, I’m not very big, and it took three security guards to get her off me.
“But she admitted it. She did the right thing. She pleaded guilty and paid the court-ordered restitution. She took responsibility, no one else has.”
Ms Glynn said she had never tried to raise public funds before, but now believes it is her last chance to retain the use of her jaw and not become a recluse.
Ms Glynn (pictured) said she had never tried fundraising before but now believes it is her last chance to save the use of her jaw.
“I don’t really tell people because it’s embarrassing, but I cry constantly from the pain,” she said.
‘I still think that by the time the public system decides to examine me, I won’t have a jaw to work with.
“It’s pretty scary.”
Daily Mail Australia has contacted the Queensland Department of Justice and the Attorney-General’s Ethics Standards Unit for comment on Ms Glynn’s case.